GRAND RAPIDS – The Caledonia boys basketball team defeated NorthPointe Christian 55-47 Wednesday night, but Fighting Scots coach Todd Bloemers was quick to explain that he was more than a little worried prior to tipoff.

“You never know what to expect as a coach after a two-week layoff with no school," Bloemers said. "You are playing at 6 o’clock at a neutral site and you just hope that your boys didn’t sleep in too late."

It turned out that Bloemers had no reason to worry after all. The Fighting Scots defeated the Mustangs in the opening game of the Cornerstone University Holiday High School Tournament. Caledonia will take on Zeeland West in Friday’s 7:30 p.m. Blue Division championship game.

The Fighting Scots trailed 16-14 after the first quarter before taking a 31-25 halftime lead. NorthPointe regained the lead late in the third quarter before Alex Ruddock’s basket with three seconds left in the quarter put Caledonia back up 36-35. Caledonia would not trail again.

“I saw great efforts from our players, and that made me really excited because this is a group that really cares about each other, and they know they can’t do it alone,” Bloemers said. “It was a stepping stone tonight. We definitely have some areas where we can continue to improve, but we feel really good about coming off a two-week break. We haven’t played in two weeks since yesterday. I thought we shook the rust off in the first quarter and put forth a pretty good effort.”

“(Piromari) has been our leading scorer and our leading rebounder, and he is playing with a lot of confidence,” Bloemers said. “He is almost averaging a double-double. It is a testament to all the hard work he put in during the off-season. He has made himself a better player. We rely a lot on him for a great deal, not only on the offensive end, but for defensive rebounds, too.”

Caledonia improved to 2-4, while the Mustangs dropped to 2-1. NorthPointe Christian's Preston Huckaby finished with 18 points while Drew Zuidema added 14. Caledonia held a 32-26 edge in rebounding, including a 10-4 advantage in offensive boards.

“I thought there was a noticeable difference in our defensive effort and intensity in the second half,” NorthPointe coach Jared Redell said. “I was very disappointed how we came out at the start of the game. We gave up some easy baskets in the first half. But I thought we did a much better job in the second half with our pressure.”